https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/2024/08/22/guilty-global-money-laundering-south-shore-quincy-canton-villa-huang-zhang/74900745007/

BOSTON – A Rhode Island man pleaded guilty Tuesday to participating in a sophisticated international money laundering and drug trafficking organization in which two South Shore residents have been charged, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Agustin Villa, 61, of Cranston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, prosecutors said. U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for Nov. 25.

Last month, Licheng Huang, 41, of Quincy, pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the case. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 31.

Huang and a Canton resident were among 12 people indicted last year by a Boston federal grand jury in the case, which involves the laundering of at least $25 million worth of drug proceeds and money from other illegal businesses, federal officials said.

The leader of the group, Jin Hua Zhang, 36, of Staten Island, New York, pleaded guilty in September to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.

For a fee, Zhang laundered bulk cash for drug dealers and laundered profits from other illegal businesses.

The group was "a sophisticated, transnational criminal organization that flooded the streets of Massachusetts with kilos of cocaine and ecstasy and laundered at least $25 million through a global network in an attempt to conceal their criminal conduct,” said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office.

Villa was described as a courier for a drug trafficking organization that used Zhang’s group to launder drug money. On May 26, 2022, Villa delivered over $75,000 in cash to a cooperating witness. That money was converted to Tether, a type of cryptocurrency, and transferred to Zhang, the organization’s leader, minus a fee.

Money was traced from the Zhang organization to China, India, Cambodia and Brazil, among other locations, prosecutors said.

The charge of money laundering conspiracy against Villa carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000, or twice the amount involved, whichever is greater.

The 12 people charged in the case also included residents of Winthrop and Saugus.